Updated 5:25 p.m., Sept. 3.

The Phillips Collection announced in a press release today that the museum will reopen Saturday, Sept. 4 after it was closed for a fire on Thursday and Friday. The Phillips House, where the fire was located, will remain closed for repairs until further notice, but the remaining galleries, including those housing Pousette-Dart: Predominantly White Paintings and Robert Ryman: Variations and Improvisations will be open to visitors throughout the Labor Day weekend. Read TBD's full report on the fire here.

The museum has announced that admission will be free to all visitors throughout the month of September.

“All of us at the Phillips are tremendously grateful for the countless offers of assistance, words of encouragement, kindness, and generosity extended by our colleagues in the museum community and beyond. From the bottom of my heart, thank you,” said museum director Dorothy Kosinski.

After the jump, an interview with Kosinski about how the museum has evaluated the damage.

UPDATE: Kosinski said that the Phillips staff has spent the day retrieving work and archival files, and drying off wet items from offices. Fans and dehumidifiers are in place to dry off the wet surfaces of the mansion.

"We see the light at the end of the tunnel," she says. 

Kosinski could not confirm the $250,000 of damage estimated in a tweet by D.C. Fire & EMS yesterday. She is working with insurance inspectors to evaluate the space, and is not sure when she will know the monetary extent of the damage. She has walked through the affected areas, and observed that the fourth floor offices suffered the most damage, but that there was not as much smoke damage as there is water damage.

So how were the museum's paintings able to escape water damage when the sprinkler system went off?

"The paintings were removed really efficiently and quickly," says Kosinski. "We didn’t have works exposed for any length of time to water. Many of our works are glazed, which offers them additional protection. The conservators inspected all of the works of art yesterday and found that they were all fine."

She expects that some staff members will continue to retrieve items from offices throughout the long weekend. She also expressed satisfaction with the museum's safety systems.

"What you have witnessed was that our system worked perfectly and did precisely what we hoped," says Kosinski.